Rob Ford may be trying to kill off most of the advisory committees and task forces at city hall, but some more committee-friendly councillors are refusing to let citizen groups die a quiet death. Last week, news broke that Mike Layton (the son of a certain somebody) plans to form an ad hoc body to replace the cycling advisory committee—an idea inspired by pops—while Josh Colle wants to assemble a collection of cyclists, drivers, pedestrians, cabbies and business reps to work on the city’s traffic problem and John Filion is considering starting his own planning committee.

The Trinity-Spadina councillor who frequently cycles to work says he got the idea while talking to his dad, former city councillor and current federal NDP Leader Jack Layton.

“I said to him, you know what they are going to do, they are going to take away the advisory voice of cyclists in this city,” Layton recalled.

The federal opposition leader told his son back in his day he started his own bike committee.

It turns out the answer to Papa Layton’s question is nothing. Councillor Layton will bring his citizens members together to sort through city business on their own terms and then act as the committee’s voice at council, asking questions of city staff and providing input on cycling-related initiatives—say, for example, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong’sproposal for separated downtown bike lanes.

All this backroom politicking seems to be evidence that Ford’s ironclad grip on the city agenda is slackening. But we’re more excited by the idea of Toronto’s bike-riding pinkos—and other activist citizens—getting together, perhaps in a tree house somewhere, with a sign posted outside that says, “No Fords Allowed.”